DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Private David Bennes Cantu Barkley — and friend, this one's worth every mile of road between here and wherever you're headed. Laredo, Texas. March 31, 1899.
A boy is born to Josef Barkley — career Army man, stationed at Fort McIntosh — and Antonia Cantu. They name him David Bennes Cantu Barkley. After his sister Amelia came along, the family moved to San Antonio in 1904.
And that city would claim this young man in ways nobody could have foreseen. When the call went out for the Great War, David walked into a recruiting office at seventeen years old and enlisted — under the name David Barkley. Just Barkley.
He left part of himself at that desk. We'll come back to why that matters. August 22, 1918.
David sailed on the S.S. Sobral, bound for France, riding with Company A, 356th Infantry, 89th Division. Most of the military records from that war misspell his name as Barkeley — one extra letter, wrong man, wrong story.
But the man himself knew exactly who he was. November 9th. The company receives what the military calls a 'must' order.
No wiggle room in that word — must. They had to cross the Meuse River near Pouilly, France. The problem being that German territory sat on the other side, and nobody knew exactly what was waiting in it.
Command needed maps. Real ones. David Barkley volunteered to swim across and find out.
He went in with one other soldier, the two of them slipping into that cold river while the war churned around them. Despite resistance — and understand, that phrase is doing a lot of quiet work — Barkley made it across. He crawled four hundred yards behind enemy lines.
Four hundred yards. He drew the required maps with his own hand, gathered the intelligence the company needed, and then turned back toward that river. On the swim back, through enemy fire, Barkley was seized with cramps.
And he drowned. His exhausted scouting partner made it back with everything they had gathered together. Two days later — two days — the Armistice went into effect.
The war was over. Private Barkley was commended by General John Pershing. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, making him one of only three Texans to receive that decoration in the war.
He also received the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster, the Victory Medal, the Croix de Guerre from France, and the Croce al Merito di Guerra from Italy. Two nations besides his own felt the need to say thank you. In 1921, his body lay in state at the Alamo — only the second person in history to have been given that honor.
He is buried in San Antonio National Cemetery, under the name David B. Barkley. Now.
That name he enlisted under. The part of himself he left at that desk. In 1989 — decades after that November river — David Barkley's Hispanic heritage was revealed.
And the Army did something consequential with that revelation: they recognized him as the first Hispanic Medal of Honor recipient. The young man from Laredo, son of Antonia Cantu, had carried that truth across the Meuse River and back, and history finally caught up to him. Some stories take a long time to tell themselves fully.
This one waited ninety years. But the river remembered.
What the marker says
Born in Laredo on March 31, 1899, David Bennes Cantu Barkley was the son of Josef Barkley, a career Army man stationed at Fort McIntosh, and Antonia Cantu. After the birth of David's sister Amelia, the family moved to San Antonio in 1904. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the Army under the name of David Barkley. Most World War I military records misspell his name as 'Barkeley." On August 22, 1918, David sailed on the S.S. Sobral to France as part of Company A, 356th Infantry, 89th Division. On November 9th, the company received a 'must' order to cross the Meuse River near Pouilly, France. David volunteered along with another soldier to swim across and explore the surrounding German territory. Despite resistance, Barkley made it across, crawled 400 yards behind enemy lines, and drew the required maps. On his swim back through enemy fire, Barkley was seized with cramps and drowned. His exhausted scouting partner was able to return with the information they had gathered together. Two days later, the Armistice went into effect. Private Barkley was commended by General John Pershing and was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was then one of only three Texans to have been given the decoration in the war. He also received the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster, Victory Medal, Croix de Guerre from France and Croce al Merito di Guerra from Italy. In 1921, his body lay in state at the Alamo, only the second person to have that honor. He is buried under the name David B. Barkley in San Antonio National Cemetery. In 1989, David Barkley's Hispanic heritage was revealed, thus spurring the Army to recognize him as the first Hispanic Medal of Honor recipient. (2017)